Considerations for occupational therapy assessment for Indigenous children in Australia

To date, the literature specifically relating to occupational therapy assessment of Australian Indigenous children is lacking. This article aims to present occupational therapists with practice guidelines for conducting assessments with primary school-aged Indigenous children in Australia. It highlights key considerations to be made prior to assessment, reviews potentially culturally relevant assessment tools and discusses key principles to guide assessment practice.

A literature review was carried out with the aim of investigating: (i) Australian Indigenous culture in relation to health and paediatric development; (ii) current practices for assessment with Australian Indigenous children; and (c) paediatric assessment tools and their potential use with Australian Indigenous children.

Research relating to specific assessments does highlight some pertinent points about their use with children from non-Western cultures.

Conducting culturally relevant assessment requires a combination of the right tools, an adaptive approach to both understanding and conducting assessments and, above all, an appreciation that each child is unique.